Raised by the Leaves
by guardsmansparky
Summary: When a young boy is chased into the forest, ancient beings are awoken...
1. Chapter 1

It was a dark and stormy October tenth, most of the population of Konohagakure, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves aka the Hidden Leaf Village, holed up dry and warm in their homes as the annual festival celebrating the defeat of the nine-tailed fox demon Kyuubi no Yoko five years prior had been called on account of the storm.

And what a storm it was, the likes of which had not been seen in decades. It was one of those storms that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth and wake the very dead. While the dead stayed asleep in their eternal resting places, something else awoke in the forests, something as old as all the forests themselves. However, with everyone safe and sound in their homes, no one was there to witness this awakening, and so the ancients would soon return to their eon's long slumber.

Or, they would, had something unforeseen not occurred.

A flash of lightning lit up a dark, dirty alleyway, revealing a small blonde child, looking about four or five years of age, running in terror. A second flash of lightning revealed why the sunny-haired child was fleeing as a dirty man with a broken, jagged bottle followed him, the stench of cheep booze on his breath. It was fortunate that the man was only a civilian, and not one of the shinobi, the soldiers/mercenaries/assassins that kept the peace in Konoha. Had he been so, drink-impaired or not, the child would have been lying face-down in a ditch by now.

Soon, the child found himself chased into the long unused and forested training ground 43, right next door to training ground 44, which was colloquially known as Shi no Mori or the Forest of Death by the locals. The drunkard followed the boy in without a thought.

The boy, one Naruto Uzumaki, ran through the dark forest, fighting through a stitch in his side as he tried to catch his breath. He really had no idea why the man was chasing him. One moment, the matron of the orphanage had kicked him out, calling him a demon-child, leaving him on the streets. The next, as he was searching for shelter from the coming storm, or perhaps the nice old man who visited him from time to time, a drunken man had started shouting things at him, things that scared him. Naruto ran, the man giving chase just as the heavens opened up and the winds began to howl.

Eventually, Naruto came to a halt, back pressed against a large tree trunk as he tried to catch his ragged breath. Not seeing or hearing the man anymore, a sigh of relief puffed out of his mouth, stretching the three whisker-like birthmarks on either cheek. However, that was not the end of it, as a flash of lightning revealed the man less than an inch from Naruto's face.

Shrieking in shock and terror, Naruto stumbled backwards, tripping over a particularly gnarled root as he did so. He tried to scramble away only for his back to press up against a tree. The drunk staggered forward, broken bottle raised threateningly with a leering smile on his face.

"Y'think yer shooo clev'r, hidin' asj a chil', huh monst'r? Well, yew ain't foolin'…me. I'ma enjoy cuttin' yew up. Now, jes' hol' shtill…" The man stepped forward, broken bottle held at the ready.

Naruto clenched his eyes shut tightly as he curled up into a ball. As such he missed what came next.

The man was about to slash down with his improvised weapon when a loud creaking groan sounded out over the squall overhead. Looking around and then up, the drunk went wide-eyed as what appeared to be an uprooted tree came down on him, roots first. He didn't even have time to whimper or scream as the tree crushed him into the muddy dirt.

When nothing happened to him, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. When nothing presented itself to him, he sat up, only to find himself face to face with a giant, mossy beard as big as he was tall. Looking up, he saw the rest of the face, as if someone had carved the countenance of a wizened old man out of a tree. The twinkling black eyes regarded the petrified Naruto.

"Hmm. Now, what's a little fox such as yourself doing out, on a night like this even?" The tree-man spoke slowly and with great perspicacity, as if each word was carefully considered and weighed before being spoken. He gave a low, creaking chuckle, like two sticks rubbing together, as he saw the boy try to hide among the small roots he was in. "Come now, I mean you no harm."

Naruto looked up at the tree-man. "You-you're a-a talking tree."

The tree-man gave a slow smile. "Indeed I am. I am Treebeard, elder of the Entish council. Who might you be, hmm?"

Naruto uncurled slightly and replied shyly. "I'm Naruto."

Treebeard nodded sagely. "Maelstrom, a strong name, and fitting of tonight's beastly weather." The ent held a bark-skinned hand out by Naruto's feet. "Come little fox, let us find shelter from this storm."

Naruto pouted cutely as he crawled into the offered hand. "I'm not little, and I'm a boy, not a fox!"

Treebeard rumbled an oaken laugh as he cradled Naruto in his hand. "Hurr, when you get to be my size, little fox, everyone is little, and you look like a small fox to me. So tell me little fox, where do you live?"

"Well," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I used to live in the Konoha Orphanage, but the matron just kicked me out, so nowhere I guess."

"Ah, so little Hashirama managed to finally create his little village, did he?" Treebeard mused, while internally frowning. He wasn't an expert on humans, far from it, but he was certain that Naruto was far too young to be on his own. He was far too skinny for his age as well. Didn't they feed him in the orphanage?

Naruto was wide-eyed. "You knew the first Hokage?"

Treebeard smiled. "Indeed I did, little fox. In fact, I was one of the ones to help him hone his gift. Teach him how to talk to the trees I did."

Naruto was starry-eyed by now. "Wow! You must be really old!"

"Indeed I am little fox, one of the oldest. Older than most human memory, I am."

"How old are you?"

Treebeard nodded as he plodded sedately along, bobbing from side to side with each ponderous step. "An excellent question, little fox. Allow me to tell you a story.

"Many years ago, so long in fact that not even I remember how long, there was a tree that had a magic fruit, Shinju, the god-tree. One day, a princess from a faraway land came and ate the fruit; gaining the power you humans call chakra. The princess brought about a time of peace, and had two sons, both with her power of chakra. The two sons traveled the world, spreading chakra and peace wherever they went. There was peace unlike any before.

"But it was not to last. The Shinju, angered at the theft of its power, warped and twisted into a nightmarish form with one eye and ten tails. This terrible form became known as the Juubi. The Juubi was a terrible force of nature, its wrath changing the very shape of the lands it trod on, reclaiming its chakra even as it sowed destruction. It was thought that all hope was lost.

"Then came the two sons to face it. For seven days and nights they fought the beast. Finally, the two brothers trapped the beast. Unable to severely wound it, much less kill it, the elder brother split the beast into many parts. The body was trapped in rock, and sent into the sky, becoming the moon. The mind became a psychic leech, drawn to feed on negative emotions. The beast's power was taken into the elder brother's own body.

"Soon, all that was left of the beast was the beast's blood. The brothers thought that was the end of it, until the trees soaked in its blood began to move and take on a life of their own. Imagine their surprise, when the trees began to talk. The look on the younger brother's face was particularly amusing."

Naruto gaped. "You were there?"

"Indeed I was. I was one of the first of the ents to awaken. The rest of the ents look up to me now, as sadly, I am the last of the first ents, the rest all passing on or setting down roots and returning to the trees from whence we came."

"Wow." They travelled in silence, listening to the storm rage above the trees until Naruto looked up at Treebeard. "What happened to the two brothers?"

Treebeard rubbed his beard of moss with his free hand. "I know not of the younger brother's fate, but before he died, the elder brother split the power into nine parts, creating the bijuu, the nine tailed beasts of power."

"What happened then?"

"I do not know, little fox. We tended to avoid each other, the bijuu and the ents, and after a few centuries, I went into a long slumber, and when I next awoke, they were nowhere to be found. Since then, I have slumbered on and off, more on in recent years. Why the last time I or any significant number of ents were awake was when I met little Hashirama. It was before you had your war. Always scurrying about and competing for things, you humans. Never stopping or slowing down to contemplate life."

Naruto gaped in awe before toppling over with a yelp as Treebeard suddenly came to a halt. Naruto could only sit and stare at the clearing they were in. The ground was covered in soft green grass and yellow and lilac flowers, with a large, weathered boulder jutting out of the clearing's center. Thick curtains of vines were draped on the trees around the clearing. Above, the canopy was a solid green of woven foliage, as if the trees on the outskirts of the clearing had grown branches over the entire clearing and had grown together to keep out the elements. Indeed, the clearing was dry and Naruto could barely hear the storm raging above anymore.

"Where are we?"

Treebeard chuckled warmly as he lumbered over to the central boulder. "This is an ent-home. Only those carried by an ent or ent-blessed can ever hope to find and enter one." He gently put Naruto down on the ground. "Now let us rest. In the morning, I shall take you home."

Naruto suddenly clutched at Treebeard's gnarled fingers. "No! I-I don't wanna go back!"

With a colossal sigh, Treebeard crouched down to Naruto's level, or as close as he could. "I know you do not wish to return to the village, little fox, but the forest is no place for a child."

Naruto clung even more tightly as he grasped at straws. "Then-then I'll just stay with you!"

Treebeard gently picked Naruto back up. "Alas, little fox, I am an ent. We are not qualified in any way to care for children. We are big, and have to step carefully when around humans. Time flows differently for us as well, little fox. A day for you, may as well be an hour for us. I would not be able to properly care for you, little fox."

Seeing Naruto was close to tears, Treebeard gave an affectionate smile. "I can however, give you an ent's blessing."

Naruto sniffled a bit and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "You talked about those earlier. What's an ent blessing?"

Treebeard chuckled good-naturedly. "An ent's blessing is when an ent willingly gives a part of themselves to a human, little fox. When an ent gives an ent blessing, the blessed gains certain aspects of the trees, including sturdiness and longevity. They also gain an affinity for nature itself. It was an ent blessing that allowed little Hashirama to go from making green things grow, to talking with the trees and nurturing life where no life should be possible. And should you ever be in need, little fox, an ent will be there to aid you."

Naruto snerked as he cleared his runny nose and wiped his teary eyes clear with the flat of his palms. "Okay. I-I'd like that."

Treebeard's face lit up. "Good, good. Let us get started then."

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi, aged leader of Konohagakure and third (and fifth-ish) holder of the Hokage title, his chosen successor having given his life to stop the Kyuubi five years ago, frowned as he went over several security reports concerning a certain bewhiskered blonde.<p>

He had been apoplectic several weeks ago when he had learned that the orphanage had kicked a five-year old out onto the street, and had sent the employees to the sadistic Ibiki Moreno at the Torture and Interrogation Department. It was to his and every higher-ranking shinobi's relief when Naruto had popped up the next morning fit as a fiddle. After listening to his story (he internally chuckled at the thought of talking trees, most likely one had fallen on his assailant and his imagination had done the rest), Hiruzen had set the boy up in an apartment and assigned an elite agent from the special forces ANBU to keep a close eye on him.

Unfortunately, the ANBU had other duties as well, and so could not keep a constant watch on the boy, thus leading to the security reports when someone attacked the boy when his minders were absent. Strangely enough, all of the attacks had been thwarted by an unknown party, the assailants all vanishing without a trace or their broken and mangled bodies showing up later by the forests around Konoha. The only thing that marked the scenes (aside from the massive and copious amount of bloodstains) was the torn up ground at each one. It was as if something had been planted there and then uprooted.

A clattering from his office ceiling made Hiruzen look up with an upturned eyebrow. Shortly thereafter, a blonde figure fell out of the vent along with the vent cover in a cloud of dust. "Hello Naruto. You do know I have a door, yes? You don't have to sneak in to see me, I am always available to talk if you need it."

Naruto sat up, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry gramps, but the mean desk-lady outside wouldn't let me in."

"I see." Standing up and moving around his desk, Hiruzen went to the door and opened it. "Hiruka? You're fired."

Shutting the door on the former secretary's protests, Hiruzen went back to his seat. "I'm sorry Naruto, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again."

Naruto smiled brightly. "Thanks gramps."

Hiruzen smiled back as he settled into his comfortable chair. "Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

A serious expression crossed Naruto's face. "I wanna be a ninja, gramps."

Tapping his pipe against his desk, Hiruzen pulled out a form sheet. "Why do you want to be a ninja?" Honestly, he had a good idea about why he wanted to be shinobi, but protocol dictated that he ask anyways.

For a moment, Naruto looked far older than any five-year old had any business being. "What else is there for me?"

Hiruzen knew exactly what the blonde orphan meant. It was a rhetorical question, and a depressing one at that. Being a ninja was Naruto's only option, really. With the amount of hate the civilians had for Naruto, it was ludicrous to even begin to think that anyone would hire him for a civilian business. And even the shinobi- and ex-shinobi-run businesses wouldn't be enough, considering the ridiculous amount an ANBU watcher had reported Naruto was charged for utilities and food. The only civilians who even so much as gave Naruto the time of day were the Ichiraku family, and they almost didn't count, seeing as Teuchi was a retired Jounin who had opened a ramen stand. Leaving wasn't an option either, not only because of what the boy held, but because he didn't have the means to leave.

It was therefore with a saddened heart that Hiruzen showed Naruto the paperwork. "Alright Naruto. Just sign here on this line, and I'll take care of the rest."

Naruto smiled softly. "Thanks gramps." Jumping up from his seat, he zipped out the door, barely pausing to say goodbye.

Watching Naruto leave with a wan smile, Hiruzen swiveled his chair to look out the window at Konoha. His village certainly had fallen, morally anyways. He sighed. 'They'll come around. Eventually.' Leaving his thoughts, Hiruzen was about to go back to his mountainous paperwork when his eye caught the potted plants on the windowsill. They were all facing the door.

Hadn't they all been facing the window earlier?

**AN: Hey folks! Sorry it's not an update, but the plot bunnies are multiplying! Help!=P**

**So many Plot Bunnies!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Nine years later…**

Naruto sat in the back of the academy classroom, his chair balancing on two legs and his feet propped up on the desk as he waited for class to begin. As a fourteen-year old, Naruto had expected to graduate two years before. Unfortunately, his teachers at the academy had all been Kyuubi-haters, and had taken every opportunity to sabotage his education, in hopes that the 'Kyuubi-incarnate' would die on his first mission outside the village.

Oh yes, Naruto knew about the Kyuubi. A year ago, upon the night of his second failed genin exam, Naruto had gone to Treebeard's clearing and had ranted about the unfairness of it all. In his anger, he had punched a tree. Much to his surprise, his fist had glowed with a red chakra before his fist went through the tree.

Treebeard had instantly recognized the Kyuubi's chakra and informed Naruto of such, though he knew not how it came to reside in Naruto. It wasn't until a Dogwood Entwife by the name of Flora, who had been (and still was) just a sapling when the Kyuubi attacked, described how the Fourth Hokage had sealed the fox into a newborn Naruto. It was only because of the juvenile Entwife's presence that Naruto hadn't completely broken down at the news.

After that, Naruto had dropped his mask of happiness and had adopted one of apathy. No longer did he play pranks for attention. Instead, he pulled pranks for revenge. If someone were to overcharge him for goods or try to attack him, they would later be caught in their homes by a prank, be it by a tripwire, a paint tag, or pheromones gathered from bitches in heat. While the civilians never cottoned on, the shinobi began to leave Naruto alone. They realized that Naruto had somehow broken into their homes without disturbing anything. Moreover, they recognized the deadly potential of each trap: tripwire replaced with razor-sharp monofilament wire to mangle ankles; paint tags replaced with explosive tags; or pheromones replaced with a kill-scent to drive animals into a killing frenzy.

Even his wardrobe had changed. After his second failure, Naruto's neon oh-god-my-eyes-orange tracksuit had been thrown to the wayside. He never even liked that particular shade of orange anyways, but it was the only thing the clothing stores would even let him buy. Fortunately, he had come across a ninja-outfitter run by a retired shinobi. Now, he wore camouflage fatigues in various browns and greens, a bandanna of the same camouflage pattern over his bright blonde hair, a black half-mask over his facial birthmarks, a pair of green goggles on his forehead, and black close-toes combat boots. All in all, it was a damn sight better than the old my-eyes-are-bleeding orange.

Iruka Umino, a brown-haired chuunin-level ninja with a spikey ponytail and a scar across the bridge of his nose (that coincidentally gave him the vague appearance of his namesake) entered the classroom he'd been teaching in for a year. Sitting at his desk to do some last-minute paperwork, he noticed the student sitting in the back of the room, legs propped on the desk even as he tossed a kunai lazily in his hands. Going back to his paperwork, Iruka idly began to contemplate the boy.

* * *

><p>When Iruka Umino had first entered the classroom he was to teach in, he had been caught off guard that a student was already present. When he had asked him his name, Iruka had been floored. This was Naruto Uzumaki? He had been told that the Uzumaki brat (his colleagues' words, not his) was a loudmouth idiot who couldn't do anything right, disrupted classes with inane questions and pranks, and wore a bright oh-god-I've-gone-blind orange tracksuit.<p>

The boy, no, young man in front of him was nothing like that. For one, Naruto no longer wore augh-my-virgin-eyes orange, instead wearing forest-pattern camouflage. Of the disruptive behavior once class started, there was none, as Naruto merely sat there, staring blankly at Iruka. The teacher shuddered. Those eyes should not belong to a boy barely in his teens. The last place he had seen eyes like that were on veterans from the last world war. For a boy barely into puberty to have them…Iruka quailed to imagine such a hard life.

The blonde was also somewhat acerbic. When asked (read: demanded) by a classmate, one Sakura Haruno if Iruka remembered correctly, why he was wearing all green and brown camouflage (and trying to look cooler than the class 'heartthrob' Sasuke Uchiha), Naruto's reply had left her (and the rest of Sasuke's fangirls) spluttering.

"_We live in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, you tell me."_

His relationship with his classmates had not gotten better after that.

The reports on Naruto's skills were grossly inaccurate. It was claimed that Naruto's taijutsu was subpar, his weapons skill and aim atrocious, his ninjutsu and other chakra related skills inadequate, and his theoretical and academic knowledge nonexistent. Iruka had soon seen that the reports were incorrect.

During sparring once, Naruto had been paired up with Sasuke, who had been at the head of the class in all subjects the previous year. Naruto had mopped the ring with Sasuke. During target practice in weapons' class, Naruto had almost gotten a perfect score with kunai and shuriken, while barely even looking where he was throwing. And when it came time to grade the first written exams, Naruto had answered everything short and succinctly, and every answer was correct, if only from a technical standpoint on some. The only thing that the reports got correct was that Naruto was incapable of using the illusory genjutsu techniques. It was not through lack of trying either, as Iruka had tried to tutor Naruto, only to find that he had far too much chakra to ever use genjutsu, which included the basic clone jutsu required to pass the academy.

Iruka sighed. He had done everything he possibly could for Naruto without breaking any protocols or academy rules, but it didn't feel like it was enough. As today was the day of the graduation exam, Iruka worried about the bitter blonde. Sure, Naruto had assured him that he had the clone jutsu covered, but Iruka still worried. Hopefully things would work out for the boy.

* * *

><p>Naruto smugly sat in his favorite seat at Ichiraku Ramen stand, smirking softly as he recalled the exam proctors' faces when he passed. His shiny new forehead protector, which had already been scuffed and buffed to remove the shine, sat on his forehead, attached to his forest-patterned bandanna. As he ate a large bowl of ramen that had been paid for by Iruka as a graduation gift (he hadn't been able to come in person due to paperwork) Naruto idly wondered who he'd be teamed up with.<p>

A lightly armored and black cloaked ninja wearing an animal mask landed behind Naruto. Looking back with noodles sticking out of his mouth, Naruto recognized him as a member of ANBU, one of the elite black ops and internal security agents of Konoha. Before he could ask what was up, the ANBU agent spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki, by order of the councils, you are under arrest for the theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously. Standing up, he slowly put the money for his meal on the counter. He tilted his head to look at the ANBU. He had read through the Konoha law books thoroughly for just such an occasion. "As the councils have no say in the chain of command, I am under no obligation to go with you. Come back with a warrant from the Hokage or the military police next time." And with that, Naruto took a step back towards the wall, seemingly melting into the wood.

As the ANBU stood blinking at the blank wall, Ayame Ichiraku looked to her father with worry. Teuchi, a retired shinobi of Konoha, put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. As a long-time supporter of Naruto, he knew just how much the elderly Hokage cared for his daughter's little brother-figure. "Don't worry, Ayame. He'll be fine. The fact that the councils had to try and order his arrest shows that there is not enough evidence for Lord Sarutobi to even consider Naruto to be the culprit in this." Ayame nodded, knowing her father's words to be true. That didn't stop her from worrying, however.

* * *

><p>Stepping out from the shadows of a tree, Naruto frowned as he contemplated recent events. Obviously he had been framed, the only question now, was by whom?<p>

A demented cackle caught Naruto's attention, drawing him deeper into the forest. Soon, he came across the source of the laughter.

Turning a corner on the small path he was using, Naruto saw Iruka, arguably his favorite teacher, pinned by kunai to a small, dilapidated shack from an old outpost in an overgrown clearing. And across from the pinned chuunin instructor was a man with a black bandanna over his shoulder-length blue-white hair and the Forbidden Scroll on his back, Iruka's teacher assistant Mizuki. As Naruto drew closer, he overheard what Iruka and Mizuki were saying.

Iruka spat out a globule of bloody spittle. "Why Mizuki? Why betray the Village?"

Mizuki sneered at his 'friend.' "Because the Leaf has been holding me back! Ten years I've been a chuunin, and never once have I been considered for promotion! Lord Orochimaru has given me the opportunity to become a legend." He pulled a massive, three-foot in diameter windmill shuriken off his back and twirled it. "Now, I'm afraid I must be going. Farewell, old friend." Whipping out his arm, Mizuki sent the windmill shuriken buzzsawing through the air at the trapped Iruka.

Iruka, unable to free himself in time, closed his eyes with resignation. He had failed.

When the sharp pain he was expecting never came, Iruka opened his eyes. Blankly, he stared at the windmill shuriken that was tangled up in the creepers of a willow tree sapling. Strange that the shuriken hadn't cut through those. A thought passed through Iruka's and Mizuki's mind almost simultaneously. 'Was that sapling always there?'

Iruka jumped in surprise, and a wince at the kunai in his shoulders, when who other than Naruto Uzumaki materialized from the shadows of the forest like a wraith. It was honestly somewhat terrifying to think about how good he was, as even the ANBU had professed to not being able to find him.

"There I am, enjoying my first meal as a genin. Imagine my surprise when an ANBU agent serves me an illegal warrant for my arrest for something I did not do." Naruto came to a stop next to Iruka and pulled a kunai out of Iruka's shoulder, freeing him from the wall of the outpost. "I'm really not surprised that it was you who stole the scroll. Although, I do have to admit, I didn't think anyone would hate me enough to use me as a scapegoat for a capital offense."

A maddened smile crossed Mizuki's face. "Do you know why you are so hated?"

Iruka stood to yell at Mizuki. "No, Mizuki, don't! It is forbid-mmph!" The distressed teacher was cut off as a gag appeared from nowhere over his mouth.

Naruto dropped the snake hand seal as Iruka struggled with the gag. "Hush sensei, I want to hear this."

Mizuki continued as if the interruption hadn't occurred. "The reason you are so hated is because the Fourth Hokage sealed the nine-tailed fox into an infant. You are that infant! You are the Kyuubi-no-Yoko!"

Naruto held his hands open. "That's it?"

The insane laughter ringing through the clearing stopped as Mizuki and Iruka stared at Naruto in surprise. "What do you mean, 'that's it?' You're supposed to be in shock and horror at what I revealed! You should be horribly traumatized!"

Buffing his nails on his fatigues top, Naruto looked up at Mizuki. "Yeah, not much of a reveal. I connected the dots about fuzzy years ago." He shifted his hands to the snake seal. "Now, are you going to keep talking, or can I go and kick your ass now?"

"You, kick _my_ ass?" Mizuki burst into hysterical laughter. "You and what…army…?" The traitorous teacher trailed off as dozens of Narutos melted out of the surrounding forests. He looked at the original blonde and smirked. "Illusion clones, really? I don't know how you finally managed to pull them off, but those won't help you against a chuunin like me!"

Naruto merely smiled smugly.

_Flashback!_

"_Clone Jutsu!"_

_Iruka and the other proctors watched as five clones of Naruto rose out of the floor. Iruka nodded and wrote on his clipboard. "Excellent. Bonus points for extra clones, excellent chakra control and intimidation factor."_

_As Naruto allowed his clones to sink back into the wooden floor, nobody noticed the shadows cast by the supposedly illusionary clones._

_Flashback End!_

Mizuki's mad chuckles were cut off as one of the Narutos punched him in the face as another kicked him in the back. Staggering, Mizuki paled as he realized just how solid the multitude of clones was. He looked up at the army staring down at him. "Oh, poop."

Turning to flee while he still could, Mizuki instead tripped on a raised root and fell, a loud snap reverberating through the forest clearing as his ankle broke. Unable to escape, Mizuki soon found himself beaten to a pulp.

Smirking at the twitching body of the traitor, Naruto calmly walked back to Iruka. Ignoring the teacher's glare (honestly, with the amount of animosity the village showed him, it would take a lot more than that to intimidate Naruto), Naruto tore the gag off his mouth, eliciting a yelp from Iruka.

Iruka rubbed at his cheeks, then looked at Naruto. "What the heck was that?"

"Treebark and resin mixed with my chakra to prevent anyone but me from pulling it off." Naruto rolled up the bark and stowed it away in one of the many pockets on his fatigues.

"I see." Rubbing his face some more, Iruka thought back to the recent beat down of his former colleague. "When did you learn the shadow clone?"

Naruto smiled knowingly. "I didn't. I figured something else out."

One of Iruka's eyebrows went up. "Oh? What?"

Naruto waggled a finger with a smirk. "That would be telling, now wouldn't it." Smirking as Iruka facepalmed, Naruto moseyed over to the comatose Mizuki. "Hey, you mind coming with me to clear my name? I'd rather not have someone try to arrest me again."

Sighing, Iruka picked up the Scroll of Seals and went to escort Naruto to the Hokage. He'd let Naruto keep his secrets. Kami knew he had his fair share to keep to himself.

* * *

><p>A few days later found Naruto waiting for his jounin sensei along with his new team. Grimacing at that thought, Naruto glanced aside at his two teammates. Honestly, who had he pissed off to get stuck with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha?<p>

Sakura Haruno was a scion of the Haruno family, civilians through and through. Sakura was a stick of a girl, borderline anorexic (by shinobi standards at least), more interested in looking good for her crush Sasuke than in training. Couple that with her long, bright pink hair and impractically long red battle-dress and Naruto wagered that the green-eyed girl would snuff it on the first mission that took her out of the village.

And then there was Sasuke Uchiha. After the entire Uchiha clan was slaughtered single-handedly, and by Sasuke's older brother to boot, Sasuke was left alone. Unfortunately, while this would normally bring sympathy from Naruto, Sasuke became a brooding, bitter little boy who was obsessed with getting stronger at any cost. Many a time had Sasuke demanded things of the teachers, many things that he had no business in doing so. To Naruto's disgust, the teachers (and apparently most civilians living in Konoha) practically scraped and bowed at Sasuke's feet and treated him like Kami's gift to the world. As such, Sasuke tended to get angry when he was denied whatever was 'rightfully his.'

Naruto smiled as he remembered the first day of classes he had in Iruka's class. Ah, the look on Sasuke's face when Iruka had disciplined him for disrespect towards a superior. Naruto's smile died as he looked at the clock. They had been waiting for their teacher for an hour. Well, if whoever their teacher was thought that he'd take this sitting down, he had another thing coming.

Pushing back his chair, Naruto stood up and meandered over to the door. Ignoring Sakura's know-it-all comments, he took a chalky eraser and wedged it between door and jam. Nodding at his handy work, Naruto dropped a slip of paper with squiggly text in the doorway and returned to his seat. Ignoring his teammates, he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. Pulling his bandanna down over his eyes, he crossed his arms and fell asleep. He wouldn't wake up until their new teacher arrived two hours later.


End file.
